I called a friend yesterday to wish her a Happy Birthday…

She’s an old friend from our Tennis Circuit days…

 

When I reached her, she was on the tennis court with her five year old grandson……………it was his very first lesson…

 

They were at Williams Island where she had been a teaching pro for a number of years a little while ago…

Grandson………………wow!……………..grandson…

My friend Bernadette (you guessed it———that’s an alias) and the instructor were trying to decide if he was left-handed or right handed…

I gave her a couple quick tips on how to see what his brain wanted him to be…

Simple tests———but effective…

Talking to Bernadette reminded me of some of the exploits she & I got into when we were both “on the road” with the women’s professional tennis tour…

Her as a player………me as an Athletic Trainer……..

We’ve got some memories and some good stories………………

I’m trying to decide where to start……………Tokyo, Buenos Aires, London, Bastad, Taiwan or Guaruja (there should be an accent on that last one somewhere).

~~~~~So Tokyo it is…

 

 

*****Pan Pacific Open*****

 

………for this tournament we always stayed at the same hotel.

Year after year……….the same hotel…

………Narita Airport………Pan Pacific Open………Shinagawa Prince Hotel………back to Narita Airport……… and on to the next tournament…

*****Shinagawa Prince Hotel*****(at least I think that was the hotel where we all stayed).

When you return to the same place so often…………..it starts to feel like your own living room (but without the dust).

My hours were long, so I was rarely in my room.  I was usually on site.

But one day during the tournament, Bernadette came by the training room and thanked me for letting her stay in my room the previous day to relax…………

Huh…………?

 

She said she helped herself to my Tupperware container of homemade chocolate chip cookies, showered, napped, & watched TV before coming back over to the site.

…………..she knew it was my room because of the homemade cookies, all the medical supplies…………….and the stuffed teddy bear (okay,  so what if I travel with a stuffed teddy bear——–don’t judge me)…

She had gotten my key from the front desk………..she remembered what my room number was…………

But it wasn’t my room number……………and I didn’t have cookies with me on this trip……………..(okay, okay…………I did have a stuffed toy)…

BUT———it wasn’t MY room……….!

I’d like to think that security has improved over the years (I hope)…

Bernadette and a fellow player were given the key by the front desk staff, but it was someone else’s room………………oops…

Whoever that room’s occupant was……………she came back to cookie crumbs and damp towels piled on her bathroom floor……………….

We never knew who she was………………..

We were afraid to follow up………………..

But I’d like to point out, I’m not the only one who travels with plushy toys…

 

 

Some other stranger does too………………..

 

 

I never got used to flying to Japan.  I always felt like I was looking out of my armpit while I was there.

Jet lag left me Jell-O-fied.

But to this day———I can still ask you in Japanese if you would like your left knee taped……………………

 

Yes, I can.